Orlando Real Estate News

TAMPA, Fla. - Sept. 17, 2009 - A study of property damage caused by Hurricane Ike, which struck the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston, Texas on Sept. 13, 2008, found that homes were not prepared for the rise of waves that accompany a major storm.

The study, "Hurricane Ike: Nature's Force vs. Structural Strength," found that significantly more Gulf Coast homes and businesses are imperiled by disastrous flooding from storm surge than previously recognized by property owners or policymakers. The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) - an independent, not-for-profit research and communications organization supported by property insurers and reinsurers - issued the report.

"Lessons learned from Hurricane Ike, which is the third-costliest hurricane on record, should be used by vulnerable communities from Texas to Maine to effectively reduce property damage in all hurricane-exposed areas," says IBHS President and CEO Julie Rochman. "Simply put, the study found that many properties are not built high enough to withstand storm surges, tightly enough to prevent water from causing interior damage or strongly enough to prevent damage when high winds strike."

The IBHS urges the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to provide greater incentives for building well above the minimum elevations now in place. More than 50 percent of the nation's population lives within 50 miles of the coast, with more than $9 trillion of insured coastal property vulnerable to hurricanes. The NFIP, which is the federal government program that provides flood insurance to homes and businesses, also establishes base flood elevation levels for properties.

According to the study, the base flood elevation requirement for homes on Texas' Bolivar Peninsula ranged between 13 feet for homes built in the 1970s to 17 or 19 feet for homes built beginning in 1983. All but a handful of properties within the first few rows of houses from the coast, built to even the highest elevation requirements, were washed away during Hurricane Ike.

By contrast, the study found that 10 homes on the Bolivar Peninsula had outdoor decks at 18 feet that were destroyed, but the homes, elevated to 26 feet, survived.

According to IBHS Senior Vice President of Research and Chief Engineer Dr. Tim Reinhold, most homes in coastal areas are built to, or slightly above, 100-year base flood elevations.

"A 100-year flood means that the level of flood water has a 1 percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any single year. However, it is well recognized in the engineering community that coastal homes built to this level have a 26 percent chance of being flooded or demolished over the life of a 30-year mortgage. This chance increases to about 40 percent in a 50-year period," Dr. Reinhold said.

"All it takes is a breaking wave about 2 feet above the base of a house to knock out the bottom floor or destroy a frame house," says Reinhold. "Building to a 500-year base flood elevation reduces the chance of storm surge exceeding the base elevation to about 10 percent in a 50-year period."

The IBHS website, http://www.disastersafety.org, allows visitors to search for their home's risk by zip code.

The report (PDF format) can be downloaded through the IBHS website at: http://www.disastersafety.org/resource/resmgr/pdfs/hurricane_ike.pdf

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